RE: Shed of the Week: Audi A4 Avant (B6)

[anonymous-user]

I had the saloon one of these and it remains one of the best cars I've owned, I loved it. I'm no Schumacher, McCrae or Block behind the wheel but to me it was perfect. The V6 makes a nice discreet rumble when pushed a bit.

I sold it to buy a D2 S8. The owner of the indie garage where we take our cars liked it and bought it from me and a year or two later he sold it to my brother, who is now selling it due to needing a larger car. He loves it as well but the negatives are:

• Not a lot of space in the back for passengers. I imagine the estate suffers the same problem.
• Small fuel tank is a pain. You'll be stopping more times than you expect.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Quite a sensible SOTW. Downside is that is a bit boring. Rust could be sorted either with panels from a breaker or possibly £500 at a bodyshop depending on the rust is on the other side.
Vastly prefer last week's.

[pSyCoSiS]

Another decent Shed indeed.

You hardly see them with the 3.0 and manual gearbox, 99% of these are the rattly diesels.

Well worth a punt if you can get it for a grand or less. If I didn't already have the V70 T5, I would be tempted if I needed another estate.

[Richard-390a0]

A little bit of TLC & this will make a very tidy old bus for someone.

[sgtBerbatov]

Do the indicators work though?

[Riley Blue]

BFleming said:

I went to view a 'cheap' A4 B6 years ago, and rust was indeed the reason - the front wheelarches were virtually gone. The reason, I'm told, is that the wheelarch liner rubs against the inside of the wing, wears the paint & protection down to the metal, then they rust from the inside out. So you never get surface rust, but quite the opposite. By the time you see it, it's too far gone.
Mechanically great cars (all of them), and for me it's a decent SOTW this W!

Wouldn't it have had a 12 year corrosion warranty from Audi? Really competent cars all the same.

[BFleming]

Riley Blue said:

BFleming said:

I went to view a 'cheap' A4 B6 years ago, and rust was indeed the reason - the front wheelarches were virtually gone. The reason, I'm told, is that the wheelarch liner rubs against the inside of the wing, wears the paint & protection down to the metal, then they rust from the inside out. So you never get surface rust, but quite the opposite. By the time you see it, it's too far gone.
Mechanically great cars (all of them), and for me it's a decent SOTW this W!

Wouldn't it have had a 12 year corrosion warranty from Audi? Really competent cars all the same.

Corrosion warranties are normally honoured if there's a full service history in place. In this instance the guy had advertised it cheap, but just said 'the bodywork has a couple of marks'. He could have called it a Superleggera and been more accurate.

[cerb4.5lee]

I've always really liked this shape A4 and the V6 petrol/manual combo is right up my street. A lovely shed I reckon.

[knebworth01]

What a boring car. Our accountant used to drive a string of these in exactly the same dull grey colour. Accountants car sums it up really!
Yawn..

[carinaman]

AC43 said:

And the ride was spine-smashingly bad. Audi really pioneered that aspect of new cars.

The SE ones probably ride better than the Sport models.

[carinaman]

knebworth01 said:

What a boring car. Our accountant used to drive a string of these in exactly the same dull grey colour. Accountants car sums it up really!
Yawn..

I'm surprised they'd countenance the juicy nature of the 3 litre V6. I suppose it doesn't matter if it can claimed back on expenses.

[Dale487]

Turbobanana said:

Ideal winter car. But dear God, that's a dull looking thing. Shapeless, grey - it would disappear in fog. No wonder the new ones have nuclear lights on them.

I'd call it understated - at least its not been messed with and put on ridiculous big wheels.

[oldaudi]

Ive had several of this B6 shape, albeit in smaller engines. Last one went to 221K miles before she broke. In my view this was "peak" Audi, together with the C5 shaped a6. They dont build them like that anymore. I always liked the gentle glow of red in the cabin which has since been replaced with something only Liberace would like

Edited by oldaudi on Friday 11th January 10:24

[Fastchas]

£150-200 for a new wing in primer and painted by any back st body-sprayer. Better than arseing about with covering it up.

[MX6]

These seem like decent solid motors, but I just find Audi's particularly of this era don't appeal to me. It's all a bit grey and serious. I think I'm a bit put off by the brand image too, the types of people I know of who drive them. I'd rather an old Jag or Alfa, more characterful for me.

[howardhughes]

'Owners of the quite rare 220hp 3.0 model, the poor man's S4'

What an absolutely stupid comment.

So an S4 is a poor man's RS4 is it??

[Molesworth]

"Although the sound system has Bose written on it, the sonic quality might not be as good as you expect".

I think "Because" is more accurate. Bose is usually overpriced junk, like their Wave radio. A triumph of marketing over substance.

[Gribs]

howardhughes said:

'Owners of the quite rare 220hp 3.0 model, the poor man's S4'

What an absolutely stupid comment.

So an S4 is a poor man's RS4 is it??

Obviously. If you could afford the increased costs why wouldn't you pick a RS4 over a S4?

[Andy JB]

Interesting with the rust on B6 - shows how build quality/design has deteriorated on each new model.

I've had a B5 (A4) & C6 (A6) owned for many years without any rust developing, yet a later B7 (A4) model looked after very well with front liners removed & waxoiled on purchase rusted in the same place as this B6 - very poor show from Audi, shouldn't they be improving....

Petrol V6's were very nice though & were bullet proof with little maintenance esp without turbo.

[mooseracer]

howardhughes said:

'Owners of the quite rare 220hp 3.0 model, the poor man's S4'

What an absolutely stupid comment.

So an S4 is a poor man's RS4 is it??

Erm, yes